Rendezvous
Rendezvous is the 4th chapter of Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. Synopsis Oz wakes up to find someone sitting next to where he lay. He reaches out a hand and tentatively murmurs Gil's name, making the person turn. Although he looks similar to Gil, the person is a grown man. The man gets up, and putting on a black jacket, announces to Break that Oz is awake. Break, sitting beside a sleeping Sharon, happily greets a confused Oz. He explains to Oz that they were in one of the Rainsworth's mansions, that they took him under their protection - and that Oz was home, back in the real world. Oz changes into new, more casual clothes, to which Break complimented that he looked good in them. Break then introduces himself as a servant to the Rainsworth family household, also introducing his doll, Emily, who cackles at Oz, much to his shock. Break, offering Oz a seat, proceeds to tell Oz that he heard all about the chaos at his Coming of Age ceremony from Gil and through this, Oz learns that everyone at the ceremony is safe: his uncle, his sister, and his servant. Break however, told him that he'd now like to know what happened after Oz was banished to the Abyss. After Oz explains his tale, Emily and Break joked on how they were never needed. Break then asks Oz where the B-Rabbit was at the moment, but Oz confesses he doesn't know since when he came to, she was gone. All he knows is that she approached him in the first place because of the watch's melody. Sharon, now awake, informs him that although it's good that he is safe, Oz must be placed under arrest. At Oz's dumbfounded look, Break asks him if he knows anything about Pandora, explaining it as an organization whose secret purpose was to "research the Abyss and handle any and all incidents related to it". He further explains that the Abyss, as Oz had seen, isn't the prison like what legends say. He states that occasionally Chains can come to their world through a "Path" and seek Contracts with humans to stabilize their existence. However, this results in Illegal Contractors like Oz, which are forbidden, and as he, Sharon, and the third man, Raven were members of Pandora, they had to turn Oz in. Sharon interrupts Break abruptly, reminding him of an objective they have, and Oz's ears begin ringing. Taking a knife, he suddenly grabs Sharon from behind, holding her hostage. Break, expecting this, knows that it is no longer Oz before him, but Alice using Oz's body, citing that he knew she would come out if her Contractor is in danger. He inquires as to what she plans to do now that she has her Contractor, but she refuses to answer and demands they the withdraw, threatening to kill Sharon if they don't. Break, smiling, told her that he couldn't do that and summons a magic seal, which he had put up earlier, where Alice and Sharon stood. The power of the seal forces Alice to release Sharon. Break, cheerfully stating that they were well prepared, walks up and jabs his cane into Oz's chest, knocking Alice out of his body. Break notes her human form, jeering at her and commenting on how she could not access her full powers as when Oz had first landed back in the real world, B-Rabbit's powers had been too much for his body, so they were sealed by Raven. Break tells Oz that Alice is a special Chain, citing that she has an actual personality. Break then asks the now helpless Alice once again about what she plans to do in their world. Frustrated, Alice tells him that she's searching for her scattered memories. She says that when she awoke in the Abyss, she only really knew her name and that her memories were scattered. She tries to attack Break with the knife, but he easily disarms her. Just as he is about to retaliate, Oz blocks him. He tells Break that if he hurt Alice anymore, he wouldn't cooperate with them. At Break's question, Oz reveals how he knew that Break, Sharon, and Raven must want him for something based on what Emily said and what Sharon was about to say earlier. He deduces that since they brought him here and not Pandora's Headquarters, his return could stir a lot of trouble. He then states that although they planned on getting him out of the Abyss, the one who saved him was Alice, and if they tried to hurt her, he would be their enemy as well. Break, amused by this reaction, proceeds to blame Emily for this, much to Sharon's annoyance. He apologizes and dismisses the seal, promising to tell Oz about their real motives and as Oz and Alice recover, Break muses over Oz's cleverness, admitting him to be just as Raven reported him to be. Raven hearing something, suddenly turn and shouts to Break that a Path is opening, coming from Oz's pocketwatch. A Card emerges and Break, unfazed, tells Raven to remove the seal on B-Rabbit's powers - he wants to see her in action himself. Reluctantly, Raven removes one of his gloves and places his left hand on Oz's head releasing the seal. Alice, now in her B-Rabbit form and eager to prove her power, easily defeats the Chain, before reverting back to her human form. The pocket watch falls to the floor and just as Oz touches it, the setting around him changes. Various images of Alice flow into his mind and then he hears a voice. He turns around to see a man behind a curtain. The man tells Oz that he's been waiting for him. He urges Oz to find Alice's memories before anyone else does, for the answers Oz seeks lie within them. He wakes up to feel tears falling on his face - Alice is crying beside him. She doesn't know why she's reacting this way, only that she's finally been able to get one of her memories back from the watch. Sharon asks Break if he had seen what she had, which he replies that he had and that Alice might be one of the "keys" that they seek. Moments later, Alice, now her usual overbearing self, demands to know what the three Pandora members planned to do with her and Oz. Break explains, to their horror, that he wants them to work for Pandora as his subordinates. Their mission was to stop the Baskervilles, the "Shinigami" that had dropped Oz into the Abyss. Break insists that Oz - and by extension, his family - would be safe if he stayed with them and that for Alice, finding her memories would be easier with their help. Alice asks why they would want to know about the Baskervilles, and Sharon simply states that their objectives and the Baskervilles' were the same. Break then jokes about how wonderful this all was, working together and forming relationships. Oz and Alice then notices the setting sun and they rush to the balcony to take in the bright view. Oz admits to feeling nostalgic, even though it had only been a short while since he was in the Abyss. At this, Raven, to Oz's confusion, then places his hat on Oz's head and walks away. Alice, watching the sun, says that she wants to find her memories as quickly as possible, and if she can do this she'll work with them. Oz states that he will help her as though he doesn't understand who he is, he resolutely wants to know what the Baskervilles call his "sin". As Break confirms whether everything was settled, Oz narrates about how maybe all of this was inevitable, all of them meeting like this and how he couldn't leave Alice alone. He ends by saying that "this was definitely plotted by someone." and calls this a "very funny fairy tale". Characters in order of appearance }} Terms Trivia *This chapter reveals the difference in time, in both Abyss and the real world. *There is a difference in the anime and in the manga in that Alice attacks Sharon while the group is eating, while in the anime Alice attacks after. *In the anime when Alice takes over Oz's body, his eyes are purple with the shadow of the B-Rabbit in them. In the manga it looks the same way as it did when Alice first took over his body in the previous chapter and his eyes were shown to be red with slits in the anime version of the 3rd chapter. Navigation Category:Manga